The Age of Fable eBook

THE WELSH BARDS

The authors to whom the oldest Welsh poems are attributed
are Aneurin, who is supposed to have lived A.D. 500
to 550, and Taliesin, Llywarch Hen (Llywarch the Aged),
and Myrddin or Merlin, who were a few years later.
The authenticity of the poems which bear their names
has been assailed, and it is still an open question
how many and which of them are authentic, though it
is hardly to be doubted that some are so. The
poem of Aneurin entitled the “Gododin”
bears very strong marks of authenticity. Aneurin
was one of the Northern Britons of Strath-Clyde, who
have left to that part of the district they inhabited
the name of Cumberland, or Land of the Cymri.
In this poem he laments the defeat of his countrymen
by the Saxons at the battle of Cattraeth, in consequence
of having partaken too freely of the mead before joining
in combat. The bard himself and two of his fellow-warriors
were all who escaped from the field. A portion
of this poem has been translated by Gray, of which
the following is an extract:

“To Cattraeth’s
vale, in glittering row,
Twice two hundred warriors
go;
Every warrior’s manly
neck
Chains of regal honor deck,
Wreathed in many a golden
link;
From the golden cup they drink
Nectar that the bees produce,
Or the grape’s exalted
juice.
Flushed with mirth and hope
they burn,
But none to Cattraeth’s
vale return,
Save Aeron brave, and Conan
strong,
Bursting through the bloody
throng,
And I, the meanest of them
all,
That live to weep, and sing
their fall.”

The works of Taliesin are of much more questionable
authenticity. There is a story of the adventures
of Taliesin so strongly marked with mythical traits
as to cast suspicion on the writings attributed to
him. This story will be found in the subsequent
pages.

THE TRIADS

The Triads are a peculiar species of poetical composition,
of which the Welsh bards have left numerous examples.
They are enumerations of a triad of persons, or events,
or observations, strung together in one short sentence.
This form of composition, originally invented, in
all likelihood, to assist the memory, has been raised
by the Welsh to a degree of elegance of which it hardly
at first sight appears susceptible. The Triads
are of all ages, some of them probably as old as anything
in the language. Short as they are individually,
the collection in the Myvyrian Archaeology occupies
more than one hundred and seventy pages of double
columns. We will give some specimens, beginning
with personal triads, and giving the first place to
one of King Arthur’s own composition:

“I have three heroes in battle:
Mael the tall, and Llyr, with
his army,
And Caradoc, the pillar of
Wales.”

“The three principal bards of the island of
Britain:—­
Merlin Ambrose
Merlin the son of Mprfyn, called also
Merlin the Wild,
And Taliesin, the chief of the bards.”